Marriage Certificate: Pass to the U.S.
When you think of a marriage certificate the most likely story that come to mind is a story of love where a couple begins a new life together. It may seem a bit unusual then that a marriage certificate represents my father’s story of migration. My father, Jesus Martinez, came to the United States from Guadalajara, Mexico. When my father was in his early twenties he met my mother, a U.S. born citizen. After dating a year my father married my mother on December 19th of 1980 in Mexico. After living in Mexico for only a few months as a married couple my parents decided to move to the United States. My mother was the first born U.S. citizen in her family and she was raised in the United States. All of my mother’s siblings lived in the U.S. so they decided to move to the United States to be closer to them. My father received a border passport in March of 1981 and in June of 1981 my parents settled in the United States. My parents then married once again but this time in the United States. They married so my father could petition for legal permanent residency on a priority status. Since then my father has lived here in the United States, and every year on December 19th my parents celebrate their original anniversary.
The story behind my parent’s marriage is not your typical story. Their marriage certificate represents a new life in the United States as an already married couple. The certificate represents a valuable future for my father’s first born child, me and for his sons, my younger brothers. The certificate also represents the beginning of a Martinez legacy here in the United States.
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